FHI - Introduction of Water-based Lubricants in Pakistan Helps Reduce HIV Transmission

DECEMBER 2008 — Male condoms made of latex provide effective protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, but only if they are used with water-based lubricants.

Oil-based lubricants can weaken latex and cause condoms to tear, but were the only type of lubricant available in Pakistan when the FHI-managed Pakistan Truckers Project began in 2006. Project staff refused to accept the absence of a vital commodity in HIV prevention and worked to make water-based lubricants available, not only to truck drivers and their sexual partners targeted by the project, but also to other programs that promote HIV/AIDS prevention.

In 2006, FHI/Pakistan staff collaborated with colleagues in Bangladesh and Vietnam who have a record of success in developing water-based lubricants. Armed with this information, FHI/Pakistan Country Director Dr Naseer Nizamani, and Dr Hasan Raza, project manager of the Pakistan Truckers Project, conducted exhaustive research into local pharmaceutical companies, selecting and negotiating with one that specialized in the manufacture of dermatological products.

The company now makes 5-cc sachets of water-based lubricant that bear the Pakistan Truckers Project brand (Hamrahi). It also makes twin packs containing a lubricant sachet and a condom. These are freely distributed by FHI's field teams at project sites.

FHI is the only provider of water-based lubricants for prevention projects in Pakistan. For example, the Tahafuz-e-Sehat Program of the Infection Control Society of Pakistan has been procuring water-based lubricants from FHI for distribution to men who have sex with men and hijras (transgender people) in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Sukkur.

"We are proud to have introduced water-based lubricants in Pakistan," says Dr Nizamani. "It is helping fulfill a critical need for Pakistan's HIV prevention strategy."

PHOTO: Water-based lubricant packet bearing the Pakistan Truckers Project branding.